A selection of English ESL to be verb printables

Created by Lauren Savage @ PrimaryLeap
Commonly Confused Words: Was/Were – This beginner-level worksheet focuses on helping students practise the correct usage of "was" and "were" in past tense sentences. Through fill-in-the-blank and multiple-choice exercises, students learn how to match the correct verb form with singular and plural subjects. This worksheet aims to reinforce past tense verb conjugation and subject-verb agreement, which are essential for building basic grammar skills.

Commonly Confused Words: Was/Were

A table to memorize the negative form and the interrogative form of the Simple Past(with short answers), helping students to focus on the role of the auxiliary verb to be.

SIMPLE PAST

The first task deals with vocabulary related to recycling and other environmental issues. Students are asked to read a text and replace the pictures with words. In the second task students use the information of the table to write sentences using the verb be going to.

Vocabulary on environmental issues and Grammar Practice on verb be going to

Here are some exercises about the song Never really Over by katy perry.

It is good to take a look at uses of "over" verbs in the simple present and to be in the simple past

Never Really Over Song class

Use this activitiy to exercise your student's writing skills. It focuses on expressing where one is from and what their personality and general appearance is like, from a very contextualize writing proposal. 



Students may struggle a little to read the textual proposal out, since it has words that they don't know. Teachers might pre-teach the vocabulary or read the text with the students, exploring the meanings of the words and other stuff they notice students need to be introduced to. 



With this activity, students will be able to

- express personal origins;

- exercise forms of the verb to be; 

- exercise uses of possessive adjectives; 

- exercise uses of the vocabulary about countries and nationalities;

- exercise uses of adjectives about personality and appearance;

- exercise creativity.



Tell me how you like it! Follow me on Instagram: @ceciliateaches_ 



Where are you from? - Expressing place of origin and personality

Use this activitiy to exercise your student's writing skills. It focuses on expressing written personal information from a very contextualize writing proposal. 



Students may struggle a little to read the textual proposal out, since it has words that they don't know. Teachers might pre-teach the vocabulary or read the text with the students, exploring the meanings of the words and other stuff they notice students need to be introduced to. 



With this activity, students will be able to

- express personal information;

- exercise forms of the verb to be; 

- exercise uses of possessive adjectives; 

- exercise uses of greetings and leave-takings.



Tell me how you like it! Follow me on Instagram: @ceciliateaches_ 

What's your name? - Expressing personal information

practice how to use the verb to be in Present Continuous or Present Simple. Complete the sentences. Use is/are being (continuous) or is/are (simple) - Verb To Be

Present Continuous or Present Simple - Verb To Be

Four activities about:
to be
to have got
there is/are
to be/to have got

Miscellanea 5

This worksheet is a boardgame aimed at practising the present forms of the verb TO BE: am, is, are. The worksheet can be helpful in training elementary students' grammar skills.

A boardgame "AM, IS, ARE"

Auxiliary verbs yes/no questions - to be, can, have got

Yes/No questions

Here is a new updated version of my new year's resolutions in which students have to use the verbs with be going to positive or negative and match themwith the pictures , or you can change and use WILL or WON'T. I wish you all the best fo the coming year!

Our new year 's resolutions

This worksheet is designed for elementary students to revise verb "to be", "have got", "can", body parts, size and colour adjectives and animals' living environment. The students have to write a short description of the animals which can work as a riddle, for example: "This animal is big and it is grey. It has got big legs, a big body and big ears. It can run. It lives in the savanna."

Animal riddles

Culture, intercultural communication, cross-cultural communication

Adjectives to describe feelings, emotions

Adjectives to describe personality and character

Adjectives: Gradable / Non-gradable adjectives

Articles: Definite or indefinite article (a, an or the)

BE + infinitive structures (e.g. he was to become famous)

Clauses of contrast (e.g.  although, while)

Clauses of purpose (e.g. in order to, so that, so as to)

Clauses of reason (e.g. because, because of, due to, as, since)

Cleft sentences (e.g. It's Joey we're looking for)

Comparison: Comparative adjectives and structures

Comparison: Superlative adjectives and structures

Conditional 2 (second conditional) - would

Conditionals: Conditional phrases (e.g. unless, provided that, as long as)

Conjunctions (aka connectives, e.g. and, but, or, so, then)

Contractions (shortened forms, e.g. don't, aren't, etc.)

Determiners (words that can come before nouns)

Formal and informal English (politeness or colloquial language)

Future perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Future perfect simple and continuous (progressive) tense

Future phrases (e.g. be about to, bound to, likely to, due to, set to + INF)

Homonyms (two words with the same pronunciation - homophones and homographs)

It as preparatory subject (e.g. it's raining, it's nice of you to)

Linking verbs (aka copulas, e.g. I am a student)

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Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives License

Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License

Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike License

Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License

how to accuse somebody of something in English

how to apologize, say sorry, forgive and express regret in English

how to ask for information and make inquiries in English

how to ask for something, make requests in English

how to blame somebody for something in English

how to defend yourself from criticism in English

how to deny or admit something in English

how to describe things or people in English

how to emphasize important things in English

how to encourage or discourage people in English

how to evaluate people or progress in English

how to express agreement /disagreement in English

how to express approval and disapproval  in English

how to express cause and effect in English

how to express interest in something in English

how to express likelihood, probability in English

how to express likes and dislikes in English

how to express sequence and chronology in English

how to express shock and disbelief in English

how to express sympathy and condolences in English

how to give permission, authorization in English

how to inform somebody about some news in English

how to interpret what was said in English

how to keep a conversation going in English

how to make guesses about something in English

how to make, accept and refuse offers in English

how to order or make a booking in English

how to persuade, convince people in English

how to praise people and express appreciation in English

how to reassure somebody of something in English

how to refuse and object to something in English

how to remind people of something in English

how to rephrase, paraphrase what was said in English

how to say thank you, express gratitude in English

Nouns: Collective nouns (team, class, family, committee)

Nouns: Proper nouns (names of people, cities, companies)

Oxymorons (phrases with words of contradictory meaning, e.g. living dead)

Participles: Past participle (e.g. HAVING DONE)

Participles: Present participle (e.g. DOING)

Parts of Speech (aka word classes, e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs)

Past perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Phonetics (pronunciation, IPA, phonetic symbols)

Plural nouns: regular plurals with S ending

Prefixes (e.g. A, UN, IM, DIS, MIS, EN, etc. )

Prepositions vs adverbs (e.g. before me, saw him before.)

Prepositions: Double prepositions (e.g. out of)

Prepositions: Participle prepositions (e.g. pending, concerning)

Prepositions: Phrase prepositions (e.g. by means of)

Present perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Present perfect simple or present continuous tense

Present simple tense: S for third person singular verbs

Present simple vs continuous (progressive) tense

Pronouns: EACH OTHER, ONE ANOTHER (reciprocal pronouns)

Pronouns: Possessive pronouns (e.g. my, mine)

Pronouns: Reflexive pronouns (e.g. myself, yourself))

Pronouns: SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, EVERYBODY, NO ONE, NOTHING, etc.

Pronouns: THIS, THAT, THESE, THOSE (demonstratives)

Pronouns: YOU and THEY to talk about people in general

Quantifiers (e.g. some, many, much, any, few, little)

Questions: WH questions (open-ended questions)

Reported speech: reported questions (indirect questions)

There is / there are / there was / there were / there will be, etc.

Verbs: Transitive or intransitive verbs (words that can or cannot stand with objects)

Working with Paragraphs: ordering, titling

Role play, miming, drama activity or improv game

Pictionary (picture dictionary) or picture matching

Writing an opinion essay (persuasive essay)

Learners who are Pre-A1 have just begun learning English and will first learn how to:<ul><li>Say the letters in the alphabet and numbers</li><li>Say hello, talk about names and age</li><li>Name the colors and dates, express likes and dislikes</li></ul>

Absolute beginners who have begun to learn the letters and numbers

Learners taking the A1 Elementary exam should be able to:<ul><li>Introduce themselves and ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, things he/she has, people he/she knows.</li><li>Communicate using very basic phrases as long as the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: common adjectives & adverbs of frequency, going to, how much/how many, imperatives, I'd like, 's – possessive, common prepositions of place and time, present simple & continuous, there is/are</li></ul>

A very basic tourist level, which is enough for buying food and a bus ticket

Learners taking the A2 Pre-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand sentences and frequently used expressions (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment).</li><li>Complete tasks that are routine and exchange information about familiar matters.</li><li>Describe matters of immediate need in simple terms.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: countable/uncountable nouns, adverbs of frequency, future will/going to, much/many, present perfect, past simple, past continuous, common phrasal verbs, common modals: can/should</li></ul>

A tourist who can do basic conversations about the past, present and future

Learners taking the B1 Intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand points regarding family, work, school or leisure-related topics.</li><li>Deal with most travel situations in areas where the language is spoken.</li><li>Create simple texts on topics of personal interest.</li><li>Describe experiences, events, dreams, and ambitions, as well as opinions or plans in brief.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: question tags, intensifiers: too/enough, future tenses, past tenses, modals, conditionals, wh-questions in the past</li></ul>

Learners who can deal with both familiar and routine situations, in friendly and work contexts

Learners taking the B2 Upper-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialization.</li><li>Interact with fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without difficulty for either party.</li><li>Produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain an opinion on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: perfect tenses, mixed conditionals, modals in the present, phrasal verbs, reported speech, wish, relative clauses</li></ul>

The level where you can be a tour guide for your foreign friends and talk about a lot of topics, even abstract ones, with ease and fluency

Learners taking the C1 Advanced exam should be able to: Express ideas fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts. Produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, using linking phrases (=words that connect ideas between sentences). Main grammar points to know: inversion, mixed conditionals, modals in the past, all passive forms, phrasal verbs (all patterns), wish/if only for regrets

Learners who can smoothly communicate in every walk of life, read long texts and write well

Learners taking the C2 Proficient exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand almost everything read or heard with ease.</li><li>Summarize information from a variety of sources into a coherent presentation.</li><li>Express themselves using precise meaning in complex scenarios.</li><li>Can express him/herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most complex situations</li></ul>

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3,140 To be verb English ESL worksheets pdf & doc